Brenda Martone Highlights Nursing Considerations With Darolutamide in Prostate Cancer
Brenda Martone MSN, ANP-BC, AOCNP, discusses what nurses need to know about safely treating patients with darolutamide.
Brenda Martone MSN, ANP-BC, AOCNP, highlights nurse takeaways with darolutamide (Nubeqa) for patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC).
During the 48th Annual Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Congress, Martone, who is an adult nurse practitioner and certified advanced oncology nurse practitioner at Northwestern Medicine, presented on the safety profile of darolutamide in combination with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) and docetaxel observed in the phase 3 ARASENS trial (NCT02799602). Patients with mHSPC who received this combination therapy (n = 651) experienced a 32.5% reduction in the risk of death, compared with those who received only ADT and docetaxel (n= 655; HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.57-0.80; P < .0001).
The adverse event (AE) profiles were determined to be similar between both the investigative arms and control arms. Adding darolutamide did not lead to more AEs when compared with ADT and docetaxel alone, with AE-related discontinuation rates of 13.5% vs 10.6%, respectively.
As Martone explains, the most common grade 3 and 4 AEs were neutropenia, and this generally occurred after the first cycle in both treatment arms. Other AEs of note included nausea, and diarrhea, which can require interventions such as antiemetics, frequent hydration, and low-fat meals.
Ultimately, Martone emphasized that the agent is manageable and that nurses should feel comfortable helping their patients receive this treatment.
"We want to do everything we can to ensure success and try to delay the transition to castration resistant disease,” she said. “This is exciting—nurses can definitely do this and they should feel really comfortable in taking care of their patients and managing [the potential] AEs.”
References
- Martone BK, Smith M, Tombal B, Hussain M, Kapur S, Rezazadeh Kalebasty A. Darolutamide can be effectively and safely administered in combination with androgen-deprivation therapy and docetaxel in patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Poster presented at: 48th Annual Oncology Nursing Society Congress; April 26-30, 2023; San Antonio, TX. Accessed April 12, 2023. https://ons.confex.com/ons/2023/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/12851
- Smith MR, Hussain M, Saad F, et al; ARASENS Trial Investigators. Darolutamide and survival in metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. N Engl J Med. 2022;386(12):1132-1142. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa211911
